St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (MSP)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$11,054,272

Station Ridership

FY 2011

116,785

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Midway Station, serving the Twin Cities is not only midway between the two cities, but also midway between the equator and the North Pole. Amtrak moved its services to its current station in 1978, a facility which is nearly identical to the Amtrak station in Miami (Hialeah), Florida.

This facility has a waiting room and is staffed by an Amtrak employee.

St. Paul Union Depot, the former Great Northern Railway station in the center of the city, was completed in 1923 and once served 282 trains and 20,000 passengers daily. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. There is current activity to refurbish the historic St. Paul Union Depot as a multimodal terminal including plans for Amtrak trains to again serve St. Paul. Already $52 million in federal money has been appropriated.

The  Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority is searching for a construction manager and design team to lead the proposed renovation project. In early 2009, the Minnesota Department of Transportation applied for $135.8 millilon in federal economic stimulus funds to support the proposed renovations.. Additionally, the city of St. Paul plans to purchase an essential 12 acres of Postal Service property. The Postal Service, a current depot tenant, has agreed to relocate.

On November 17, 2010, signing of a $35 million grant from the U.S Department of Transportation permitted renovations to the St. Paul Union Depot to begin, as well as restoration of tracks, driveways, and sidewalks. The funding was awarded under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, which is designe to promote innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that provide significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, region, or the nation.

Amtrak provides both ticketing and baggage services at the Midway station, which is served daily by two trains.